The human spirit is competitive. Since earliest times, men and women have run and raced against each other. The basic race consists of a start where someone says “GO” and everyone races to the finish line—first one across wins. A stopwatch can be used to determine the winning time.
It is easy to spot the winners—they are at the front, but it is not so simple to determine who is, say “400th”. Today, every runner wants to know how he or she did compared to other runners and to their “personal best” time. They want to know if they are “400th” or “401st”. To know that, an accurate, recorded time needs to be generated for every runner.
In a large race today, there are thousands of runners. Systems need to capture a start-time for every runner and to track when they cross the finish line, then use that data to compute that runner's elapsed time. In long races, runners also want to know what their “split times” are. They want to know what their times were when they crossed certain mile markers during the race. Further sophistication now requires that these times be posted on the internet in real time so that relatives and loved ones can use the runner's number to see when their runner passed these points.
Applicant's previously filed, co-pending international application serial number PCT/US10/36674 provides an improved UHF RFID timing system comprising an RFID antenna that is placed on the race course and connected to the portable controller via the cellular network. An RFID tag on the runner's shoe or bib communicates with the RFID antenna to transmit data on the runner to the portable controller. The RFID antenna is housed within a rubberized shell (“skin”) that encases the antenna and allows the routing of cables to subsequent antennae in the line. The skin includes a central hollow section for receiving the RFID antenna and cabling for connecting the RFID antenna to the controller and/or to additional RFID antennae. Sloped side sections are connected to the lengthwise ends of the central section to create a gradual slope leading up to the raised center section. A hinged cover to the central section is provided to facilitate insertion of the RFID antenna and cabling. The dimensions of the skin and the slope of the end sections are designed to be ADA compliant, and preferably the skin is approximately 42″ L×31.5″ W and is 1″ H at the central section. Each respective skin is configured to be interlockingly attached to another skin by projections that are provided in one end of each respective end section and corresponding indentations provided in the other end of each respective end section of the skin. The ends of multiple skins may be linked together form timing lines which are laid across the road for athletes to run over. As the athlete passes over the antenna in the skin, the tag on the athlete's shoe or bib is read.
One additional requirement for timing races is redundancy. There is only one opportunity to capture a runner's time, if a failure were to occur there must be redundant features of the system to overcome this failure and still capture a time. At the most important points in a race (especially the start and finish) two independent timing lines are laid down so that if one line were to fail the second line would capture the runners time. The two lines have traditionally been called the “Primary” and “Secondary” timing lines Up until now these lines had to be spaced at 15-20 feet apart so that the RFID components would not interfere with each other. However if a runner is missed at the primary line and subsequently detected at the secondary line the runner will have a second or two added to his/her time based on the time it takes to reach the secondary line. The current system requires the placement of the antennas over the road. Even though the skins are ADA compliant, they still create “speed bumps” for disabled athletes competing in wheel chairs and hand cracked cycles. These skins are heavy and it takes a certain amount of effort and time to lay out a timing line.
The present invention overcomes many of these limitations. Firstly it can be used in a “stand alone mode”. That is, the present invention can be used in lieu of one of the above timing lines. The system can be quickly and easily set up by the side of a road without requiring a strip of antennas to be placed on the ground and in the roadway for athletes to pass over. Each timing location contains a pair of vertical antenna assemblies and control boxes that can be quickly and easily set up and taken down. The vertical orientation of the antennas also avoids the necessity of a skin being laid across the road for a runner to cross.
The present invention can also be used in conjunction with the previous system. The vertical antennas can be placed directly over the previously described timing line. Each system has its own controller, power supply, batteries etc. . . . In such a configuration total redundancy is achieved in that if any of the lines fail, the other will capture the runner's time. In this configuration the runner's time will be the same irrespective of what line captured the read so there is now no error when the runner's time is captured on the secondary line. In this combined configuration, the radiating pattern of the vertical antennae have been designed in such a way that they work synergistically with the horizontal antenna and do not interfere.